{"id":12665,"date":"2024-09-19T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-19T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=12665"},"modified":"2024-11-15T06:10:58","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T06:10:58","slug":"space-travel-comes-with-risk-and-spacexs-polaris-dawn-mission-will-push-the-envelope-further-than-any-private-mission-has-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/space-travel-comes-with-risk-and-spacexs-polaris-dawn-mission-will-push-the-envelope-further-than-any-private-mission-has-before\/","title":{"rendered":"Space travel comes with risk \u2212 and SpaceX\u2019s Polaris Dawn mission will push the envelope further than any private mission has\u00a0before"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Spacewalks are among the more dangerous activities associated with human spaceflight.\n Ignatiev\/E+ via Getty Images<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n Chris Impey<\/a>, University of Arizona<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

Space is an unnatural environment for humans. We can\u2019t survive unprotected in a pure vacuum<\/a> for more than two minutes. Getting to space involves being strapped to a barely contained chemical explosion<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Since 1961, fewer than 700 people<\/a> have been into space. Private space companies such as SpaceX<\/a> and Blue Origin<\/a> hope to boost that number to many thousands, and SpaceX is already taking bookings<\/a> for flights to Earth orbit.<\/p>\n\n

I\u2019m an astronomer<\/a> who has written extensively about space travel, including a book<\/a> about our future off-Earth. I think a lot about the risks and rewards of exploring space.<\/p>\n\n

As the commercial space industry takes off, there will be accidents and people will die. Polaris Dawn, planned to launch early in September 2024, will be a high-risk mission using only civilian astronauts. So, now is a good time to assess the risks and rewards of leaving the Earth.<\/p>\n\n

Space travel is dangerous<\/h2>\n\n

Most Americans vividly recall the disasters that led to the loss of 14 astronauts\u2019 lives. Two of the five space shuttles disintegrated, Challenger<\/a> in 1986 soon after launch and Columbia<\/a> in 2003 on reentry.<\/p>\n\n

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